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Liam Lawson says Racing Bulls are getting closer to Formula 1ās top four teams after another double points finish at the British Grand Prix. Lawson said: "[I'm] very happy. Obviously, when a lot of the top guys don't score, we get a lot of bonus points in there which is great. But it is just a big credit to all the work that has been going in from the team to be now consistently in front of the midfield, which is really, really good. Friday we were not far away from the front guys, and a few races ago we were miles away. So, we have definitely really improved things... it would be nice to keep the momentum going."
Lewis Hamilton admitted āall the magic just disappearedā across the British Grand Prix weekend after he ended up third at Silverstone in a race won by his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc. Hamilton said: "Congrats to Charles. He did a great job. All the magic that I had on Friday just disappeared through the weekend. I was just lacking front end. We massively under-egged it with the front wing and that's my fault and the engineering fault."
Lewis Hamilton said he does not know why he jumped the start at the British Grand Prix, a move that earned him a five-second time penalty. Hamilton said: "My hand just moved just like that. Don't really know where it went. I didn't mean to do it. I didn't even tell my hand to do it. But anyway, it happens."
Toto Wolff said Mercedes āshould not breakā after Kimi Antonelliās British Grand Prix was derailed by a front-left wheel shield failure while he was chasing race winner Charles Leclerc. Wolff said: "We think it happened on Turn 9 because that's when it first appeared. But, you know, it's on us. A car should not break and I don't think the ride was worse than any laps before. He couldn't turn it anymore. First it was blocked by a carbon part and then at the end when it was gone... we haven't really done the postmortem yet on what happened. It's just a theory that we have at the moment."
Toto Wolff says he would have preferred the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to have been handled in the same way as the British Grand Prix, after the race at Silverstone finished behind the safety car with the FIA insisting the correct procedure had been followed. Toto Wolff said: "I would have preferred for this to happen in 2021. That was more important. But it's good that the regulations have been followed. The show follows the sport, and not the other way around. So it's good that the FIA made that call."
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur says talk of a world championship challenge is for others, despite the teamās surprise first and third at the British Grand Prix. Vasseur said: "The championship fight should be your words. We have exactly the same approach with everybody at home, that is to say: 'Guys, we had this weekend, and now let's focus on Spa.' We are improving step-by-step, but I never try to draw a conclusion after one race, two races, that it is a good result or a bad result."
Max Verstappen said he did not have time to meet former Red Bull boss Christian Horner at the British Grand Prix, but he speaks to him almost every week. Verstappen said: "I speak to Christian almost every week. I saw him on the camera walking around, but I haven't had time to meet anyone, to be honest. It's just been busy."
Charles Leclerc said his British Grand Prix win was a response to the ānegativeā narratives around him after a difficult run of races. Leclerc said: "It means a lot because when things get tough ā and that's literally the situation I've been in the last few races ā obviously there's a lot of negativity around me in general, with narratives being created, and it's never a nice environment to work in. But to keep our heads down and to keep working very hard and get the result that we got today, I'm super-proud of the whole team that have been pushing me and helping me to find that feeling again with the car."
Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies says the team is open to dropping its āMacarenaā rear-wing concept after Max Verstappen spun off at Stowe in the closing stages of the British Grand Prix. Mekies said: "We have raced quite a few races now with that concept, and it is too early in the analysis to establish whether it is an issue with the concept, but we are going to leave no stone unturned when it comes and all options [are possible]."
Kimi Antonelli says it āhurtsā to leave the British Grand Prix without scoring, after a wheel shield failure and a track-limits penalty disrupted his race at Silverstone and left him unsure whether there was a deeper issue with his car. Antonelli said: "I lost, I don't know how much downforce, the car wouldn't turn anymore. In some of the corners, the wheel was in the air, so there was something fundamental that was broken. We only know now that the wheel shield broke, but we don't know if something else broke, because by the loss it feels like it was more than just a wheel shield."
Toto Wolff says Mercedes will take Kimi Antonelliās car back to the factory to investigate the front-left issue that derailed his British Grand Prix and left him outside the points. Wolff said: "I've seen the car, but it's not yet clear, really. We're going to take the whole car back to the factory in order to take it apart there to really see where it happened, how it happened, and why we had so severe consequences of him not being able to drive."
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said the team would make the same call to pit Lewis Hamilton under the late safety car at the British Grand Prix, despite it costing him second place, because they expected the race to restart. Vasseur said: "We are a bit surprised that the safety car stayed out so long and we were expecting a restart. We can discuss at length about the call but if I have to do it now I would do the same."
Ferrari president John Elkann celebrated Charles Leclercās victory at the British Grand Prix, which marked the teamās 250th grand prix win, saying the milestone underlined Silverstoneās importance to Ferrariās history. āThatās 250 wins for Ferrari, and the first was here at Silverstone,ā Elkann told Sky Sports F1 Italy, adding that āwhen everyone at Ferrari works togetherā¦ great things happenā as he praised Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and the wider team in Maranello and at the track.
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